A Small Gesture Can Make all the Difference
by KnightandJesterArt
Summary: A short story centered around Jiraiya and Orochimaru in their younger years. Jiraiya discovers that something he'd done in jest as a kid, stuck with Orochimaru into their adulthood. One-Shot. Can be viewed as romantic or platonic.


Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru had recently returned home after completing a few dozen S-Rank missions. The three of them were exhausted and happy for their time of rest. They all had different ways of spending their time off: Jiraiya had been "researching" the importance of the female anatomy; Tsuande had mostly spent her time off with her younger brother; and as for Orochimaru, well... The exhaustion hit him so hard he became ill. His friends had not seen him in over a week, and Jiraiya was starting to worry.

"Tsunade, you haven't seen Orochimaru today have you?" Jiraiya tried his hardest not to sound too concerned, but it still showed.

His comrade rolled her eyes in reply. "No Jiraiya, I have not. I haven't seen him since we returned, same as you. How many times are you going to ask me?" She put her hands on her hips. "Look, if you're that worried about him, why don't you just go check on him?"

It was like a light went off inside of Jiraiya's head in that moment, and he gave Tsunade a big smile. "Oh, yeah, I guess I could do that, couldn't I?" He ruffled his hair and chuckled softly. "See ya 'round, Tsunade!" He spun on his heel and rushed off to Orochimaru's apartment. He gave the door a gentle knock, and waited a moment. When he received no response, he decided to use the spare key Orochimaru had given him. He had a key for Tsunade's residence too, as did Orochimaru. The three of them made sure to give each other a set of keys so that they could check in on one another. _"Well, hopefully he's not doing anything that would result in my death if I were to walk in on him."_ Bracing himself, Jiraiya slowly unlocked and opened the door to his teammate's apartment. "Orochimaru?" He quietly made his way to Orochimaru's bedroom, and gasped softly at the sight before him:

Orochimaru was laying in bed snuggling with a black and purple snake stuffed animal, fast asleep. He had the most peaceful expression on his face, and the snake was tightly wrapped in his arms.

Jiraiya couldn't help but stand there and stare for a few minutes. He was a little surprised by the scene in front of him. Not only was it unsual for Orochimaru to be sleeping so late in the afternoon, but he was also snuggling a stuffed animal. Wait. Jiraiya's eyes went wide when he remembed just where he'd seen that snake before...

—Flash Back—

 _Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to treat his three prized pupils to a festival in Tanzaku Town. The three of them had far exceeded his expectations, and he felt they deserved a break. He'd asked all of them to meet him at the village gate no later than 12:00PM. Jiraiya had been the first to arrive, and was wearing a semi-formal kimono top and pants. They were plain garments, and could barely pass for appropriate festival attire, but that was Jiraiya for you. Tsunade was the second to arrive. She had her hair up in small buns on either side of her head, and kept her bangs pulled back. She was wearing an elegant grey-green colored yukata, with a complimenting white obi. The three of them were chatting for a while, and soon realized Orochimaru was late. It was well after noon by now, and he had yet to show up._

 _Jiraiya sighed. "Damn, usually **I'm** the late one. Where the heck is he?!"_

 _Hiruzen frowned. "It is unusual for Orochimaru to be late. I certainly hope he's all right."_

 _Tsunade looked at her sensei. "Should I go and check on him?"_

 _He shook his head in reply. "No, that's all right. Let's wait a bit longer for him."_

 _It wasn't until 12:45PM that Orochimaru finally arrived at the gate. "I-I'm sorry for being late!" He had all of his hair but his bangs up in a nice, but messy bun held in place by two purple hair sticks. Each stick had three black beads hanging from the top. He was wearing his favorite pair of earrings, and a rather elegant black, lavender, and white yukata. There was a white snake around the collar of his yukata, and the sash was black. He was wearing black pants, white socks, and tradtional sandals that were also black. He suddenly realized they were all staring at him. This caused the already flustered boy to blush even more. "W-What? Why are you all staring at me like that?"_

 _Jiraiya was the first to speak up, or rather, laugh. "Because you look ridiculous! Is **this** why you took so long to get here? You look like a girl!" He could barely contain his laughter. _

_Orochimaru frowned and looked away. "I do **not** look like a girl, Jiraiya!"_

 _Hiruzen shook his head and sighed. "All right, that's enough, Jiraiya. How about we all just head to the festival now, hmm?" The third Hokage led his students out of the village and in the direction of Tanzaku town. He sighed to himself when he noticed Orochimaru was lagging behind._

 _By the time the four of them had arrived, the festival was in full swing. They all browsed the various shops and stands for a while before a game caught Jiraiya's eye. He immediately ran towards it and asked if he could try. He eagerly listened to the rules and began to play. He'd won first try, but was disappointed by his prize. It was the only 'cool' prize left, and he didn't even like it. It was a five foot long purple and black snake stuffed animal. The silver haired genin returned to his companions and shoved the snake into Orochimaru's arms. "Here, loser; this was the only cool prize left, but I don't want it. You like snakes and all, so **you** keep it." _

_Orochimaru blinked in surprise. "Oh, uhm..."_

 _Jiraiya huffed. "What?"_

 _Orochimaru hugged the snake and hid his face behind it. "T-Thank you."_

" _Tch, whatever! I'm going down further to see if I can win something that's actually worth keeping!"_

—End Flash Back—

Jiraiya continued to stare at his friend with wide eyes. _"I... I don't believe it..."_ He walked closer to the bed and sat in a nearby chair. _"He... He kept that silly old thing all this time? I only gave it to him to tease him. I didn't think he'd actually hold onto it..."_ He couldn't help but soften his expression and smile at his friend. He stayed like that for a few more minutes, before deciding it best he leave. He scribbled a small note and left it on the bedside table for Orochimaru to find when he woke up. It was a simple, two-worded note, with a deep and meaningful message...

 _You're welcome._


End file.
